Leonardo Da Vinci's Biography

One of history's greatest thinkers in the world, Leonardo da Vinci, began his career as an artist. But his interest in the world around him drove him to study music, math, science, engineering and building design. Many of his ideas and inventions were centuries ahead of his time.

One of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous drawings, called “Vitruvian Man”, is a good example of his ever questioning mind, and his effort to bring together art, math and science.

“Vitruvian Man” is a detailed sketch of a man’s body, which is drawn at the center of a square and circle. The man’s stretched arms and legs are in two positions, showing the range of his motion. His arms and legs touch the edges of the square and circle.

 

 Leonardo’s first known portrait now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. He made this painting of a young woman named Ginevra de’Benci around 1474. The woman has a pale face with dark hair. In the distance, Leonardo painted the Italian countryside. 

He soon received attention for his extraordinary artistic skills. One famous work from Leonardo’s Milan period is called “Virgin of the Rocks.”  It shows Jesus as a baby along with his mother, Mary, and John the Baptist also as a baby. They are sitting outside in an unusual environment. Leonardo used his careful observations of nature to paint many kinds of plants. In the background are a series of severe rock formations. This painting helped Leonardo make it clear to the ruler and people of Milan that he was a very inventive and skillful artist.

Leonardo later made his famous painting “The Last Supper” for the dining room of a religious center in Milan. The work received wide praise and many artists tried to copy its beauty. One modern art expert described Leonardo’s “Last Supper” as the foundation of western art. Unfortunately, Leonardo experimented with a new painting method for this work. The paint has suffered extreme damage over the centuries.

 However, Leonardo’s most famous portrait of a woman is called the “Mona Lisa.” It is now in the collection of the Louvre museum in Paris. He painted this image of Lisa Gherardini starting around 1503. She was the wife of a wealthy businessman from Florence named Francesco del Giocondo. It is from him that the painting takes its Italian name, “La Gioconda.”

Leonardo da Vinci died in France in 1519. A friend who was with him at his death said this of the great man’s life: “May God Almighty grant him eternal peace. Every one laments the loss of a man, who's like Nature; cannot produce a second time.”